Myanmar police ordered set up of Reuters journalists: testimony

A Myanmar police chief ordered officers to set up a Reuters reporter by handing over sensitive documents to him in a sting operation that also ensnared his colleague, a police official told a court Friday.

Reporters Wa Lone, 32 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 were detained in December after meeting police for dinner in Yangon and accused of violating the country's Official Secrets Act for possessing material relating to operations in conflict-hit Rakhine state.

They were arrested while investigating a September 2 massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, but their report was published while they were behind bars.

Myanmar has been accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya after some 700,000 fled to Bangladesh following a brutal military crackdown on insurgents in August.

The military has denied allegations that the armed forces committed widespread atrocities.

But it has admitted soldiers took part in a massacre of Rohingyas last September in Inn Din village, a murder spree that the Reuters reporters helped uncover. Seven soldiers were recently sentenced to 10-year prison terms for the killings.

Nonetheless the prosecution of the reporters has continued.

For months now a Yangon court has been hearing testimony to decide whether the Reuters journalists will go to trial even as global criticism of the case has rained down on Myanmar and prominent rights attorney Amal Clooney joined the legal team.

- 'Tell the whole truth' -

Deputy police major Moe Yan Naing said in his appearance Friday that he had been questioned about meeting Wa Lone in November and that his superior then set up a sting in which he told others to pass on sensitive security documents.